Husking-machine.



No. 875,868. PATENTED JAN. '7, 1908. S. STBINMETZ.

HUSKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED PEB. \3. 1905.

STEFAN STEINMETZ, OF KREUZNACH, GERMANY.

HUSKING-MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. '7, 1908.

Application tiled February 13, l905- Seal NO- 245.500.

To all wh m it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEFAN STEINMETZ, a citizen of the Empire ofGermany, residing at Kreuznach, in the Empire of Germany, have inventeda new and useful Husking- Machine, of which the following isa speci--lication.

My invention relates to improvements in husking machines, whereby themachines are simplified and rendered more effective. The grain is firstmoistened and then partly husked, afterwards freshly moistened, whollyhusked and finished, while it need not be passed repeatedly through thesame parts of the machine as hitherto. Thus the grain is treated in twoconsecutive stages and the second moistening device is made adjustableaccordingI to the quantity of grain treated in the first stage.

l will now proceed to describe the improved husking machine withreference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 yis anelevation of the machine, parts being shown in section, and Fig. 2 is avertical cross section on the broken linc 9;*/3/ in Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference refer lo similar parts in both views.

The 'first moistening device comprises a vertical centrifugal machine Aof any known construction, which is connected at the bottom with asupply tube 1 and at the top with a discharging tube 2. A two-way cock 3is secured on a convenient support 4 and connected with a tube 5, thelower end of which enters a channel 6 in a boss on the tube 1, Thetwo-way cock 3 is connected with some source of water by a tube 7. Thetube 1 is to be connected with some hopper or other known device for theintroduction of the grain. l do not further describe the verticalcentrifugal machine A, as its construction is immaterial, the essentialpoint being, that the moistened grain should be therein gradually movedupward while the' dirty water is being thrown olf. The discharging tube2 is adapted to conduct the wet grain from the top ofthe verticalcentrifugal machine A to a Vlirs't horizontal cylinder 8. The internalcylindrical surface of the latter is made rough, it being provided withsmall projections of any convenient shape, 'viole for instance Figs. 1and The two heads 9, 9 of the cylinder S are preferably perforated forthe admission of air.

Vithin the cylinder S a rubbingl drum 1() of a polygonal cross section,preferably a pentagon or hexagon, is disposed, whose shaft 11 passesthrough both heads 9, 9 and is mounted in suitable bearings 12, 12 toturn. On an external end of the shaft 11 is keyed a belt pulley 13, bymeans of which the drum 10 can be put into rotation in the direction ofthe arrow 15 in Eig. 2. The drum 10 is so proportioned, as to leaveample spaces of segmental cross section within thecylinder 8. Thelatter' is provided with an aperture 16, through which it is placed incommunication with an upper channel 17 and a lower channel 1S. Beneaththe lIirst cylinder 8 a second horizontal cylinder 19 is disposed, whichhas equally a rough internal surface. It is provided with two perforatedheads 20, 20 and has a longitudinal aperture 21 of a convenient width.Through this aperture y21 the cylinder 19 is put in communication withthe channel 18 mentioned'above and also with a channel 22 behind thechannel 18.

At the left end the cylinder 19 is provided with an aperture 23, whichis normally closed by a trap-door 24, the latter being balanced orpressed by a weight 25 on a lever 26 with the aid of a bellecrank lever27 and two links shown at Fig. 2. 'Vithin the second cylinder 19 ahusking drum 2S with a plurality of inclined wings is fastened on ashaft 29, which passes through both heads 20, 20 and carries on itsright external end a belt pulley 30and on its left end two belt pulleys31 and S2. rl`he shaft 29 is mounted in suitable bearings to turn in thesame direction as the upper drum 10. The wings of the husking drum 2Sare shown in Fig. 1., as straight or, in other words, parallel with theshaft 29, but, where so preferred, they may be made slightly helical.Beneath the second cylinder 19 a third horizontal cylinder 38 isdisposed, which has a rough internal surface, two perforated headssimilar to those 9, 9 and 20, .20 ofthe uppercylinders respectively, alongitudinal aperture 34 and at the left end an aperture 35, which 'isnormally closed by a trap-door 36, the latter being balanced or pressedby a weighted lever 37.

Beneath the aperture 35 an outlet piece 38 of rectangular cross sectionis secured on the cylinder 33. Within the third cylinder 33 a huskingdrum 39 of a similar construction as the drum 2S above is fastened on ashaft is mounted in suitable bearings to turn.

.. and being freed from the dirty water.

ward and terminates in a tube 53.

carries on the ends two belt pulleys 41 and 42, of which the right one41 can be driven from some source of power (not shown) by means of abelt 43. As the belt pulleys 42 and 31 of the two husking drums 39 and28 are connected by a belt 44 and the belt pulleys 30 and 13 of theupper husking drum and the rubbing drum are connected by a belt 45, itfollows, that all the three drums are simultaneously driven in the samedirection of the arrow 15 by the driving belt 43. Between the second andthird cylinders 19 and 33 the second moistening device is disposed. Itcomprises a horizontal trough 46 with a conveyer 48 and a-,water cock55. The hori- Zontal trough 46 is placed beneath the outlet 23 of thesecond cylinder 19. At the right end this trough 46 communicates withthe lowermost cylinder 33 through a tube 47. Within the trough 46 theconveying screw 48 is disposed, the shaft of which is mounted insuitable bearings to turn and carries on its left end a belt pulley 49,so that it can be driven from the pulley 32 by means of a belt 50.

Above the trough 46 near the trap-door 24 the water cock 55 is disposed,whose plug is rigidly connected with the bell-crank lever 27 mentionedabove. The cock 55 is connected with the source of water by means of atube (not shown), which may be attached to the water tube 7 or leftseparate. lt will be seen, that the plug of the cock 55 is so connectedwith the trap-door 24 as to regulate the amount of water discharged intothe trough 46 in proportion to the quantity of grain falling 'from thesecond cylinder 19 through the aperture 23. The three superposedcylinders 8, 19 and 33 are secured in a frame of any convenientconstruction. The third cylinder 33 is placed in communication throughits aperture 34 with a channel 51 behind the channel 22 already referredto above. The three channels 51, 22 and 18, 17 may be arranged in acasing '52, which tapers upthe first moistening device is opened to turnon water, which passes through the tube 5 and the channel 6 and mixeswith the grain. The watered grain is passed upward through the verticalcentrifugal machine in any known manner while describing a spiral lineThe wet grain then passes through the tube 2 to the upper cylinder 8,where it is taken along with by the pentagonal drum 10. As during The.

the rotation of the drum 10 the sectional spaces between it and thecylinder 8 constantly change their position, it follows, that the grainis constantly pressed by the flat drum faces against the rough internalsurface of the cylinder 8, so that the several grains of the grain areforced to rub not only on each other, but also on the internal cylindersurface and on the flat drum faces. rIhereby the water adhering to theseveral grains is forced between their husks and berries, so that thehusks are loosened. The drum 1() acts at the saine time somewhat like aventilator as it sucks a little air through the perforations' of theheads 9, 9 and mixes it with the grains. The grain is constantly takenalong with by the drum and rubbed, until it at last drops through theaperture 16 into the diverging channel 18. Any husks that may have beendetached from the berries may be partly or wholly carried upward throughthe channel 17 to the exhaust fan, if any be employed. The rubbed grainpasses through the channel 18 to the second cylinder 19, where theseveral grains are again taken along with by the wings of the huskingdrum 28 and rubbed against the rough internal surace of the cylinder 19.The husking drum 28 acts at the same time as a ventilator, but in astronger degree than the rub-I bing drum 10, it sucking in air fromwithout through the perforations of the heads 20, 20 and mixing the airwith the grain. Thereby the several grains are not only dried but alsopartly husked. The detached husks are blown upward in the direction ofthe arrow through the channel 22. An exhaust fan may be useful tofacilitate the discharge of the husks. The grains are constantly thrownabout and treated by the wings of the husking drum 28 while describing aspiral line from right to left in Fig. 1 until they force open thetrap-door 24 and fall in a stream into the trough 46. The motion of thegrains through the cylinder 19 from right to left in a spiral line maybe facilitated by placing the wings of the drum 28 slightly helically asexplained above.

0f course the outward motion of the trapdoor 24 is communicated to theplug of the cock 55, whereby the latter is opened and a quantity ofwater in proportion to that of the falling partly husked grains isconstantly admitted to the trough. ln the latter the grain is againmoistened, while it is being conveyed from left to right by the conveyer48, until it drops through the tube 47 into the third cylinder 33. Herethe freshly moistened grains are finished, that is to say, they arerubbed by the wings of the second husking drum, freed from the lasthusks, dried and polished, while gradually moving from right to left ina spiral line, until the husked grains force open the trap-door 36 andescape through the outlet 38 to some place of storage or to furthermachines as the case may l be. The husks and the dirt are dischargedupwards through the channel 5l.

The husking machine described may be varied in many respects withoutdeviating 'from the spirit of my invention. It is essential, that thefirst cylinder S and the rubbing drum 10 should be adapted to force theadhering Water between the husks and the lierries of the grain forloosening the husks. rl`he second cylinder 19 and the husking drum 28should be adapted to partly husk the grain. The third cylinder 33 andthe huskingdruln 39 in combination with the second meisteningI deviceshould vfinish the grain.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In a husking machine, the combination with a first moistening device,of a rotatory rubbing drum of a polygonal cross section (preferably apentagon or a hexagon) adapted to force the water between the husks andberries of the grain, means conducting the moistened grain from saidfirst moistening device to said rotatory rubbing drinn, a first rotatoryhusking drum, means conducting the rubbed grain from said rotatoryrubbing drinn to. said hrst rotatory husking drum, a pressed trap-door,a second moistening device controlled by said pressed trap-door, asecond rotatory husking drum, a pressed trap-door adapted to dischargethe finished husked grain, and means for removing thedetached husks.

2. In a husking machine, the combination with a first moistening device,of a rotatory rubbing drum of a polygonal cross section (preferably apentagon or a hexagon) within a horizontal cylinder with rough internalsurface, means conducting the moistened grain from said first moisteningdevice to said rotatory rubbing drum, a 'first rotatory husking drumwithin a second horizontal cylinder with rough internal surface andperforated heads, means conducting the rubbed grain `from said rotatoryrubbing drum to said first rotatoryhusking drum, a pressed trap-door insaid second horizontal cylinder7 a second moistening device beneath saidpressed trapdoor and controlled thereby, a second rotatory husking drumwithin a third horizontal cylinder with rough internal surface andperforated heads, means conducting the 'freshly moistened grain fromsaid second moistening device to said second rotatory huskingf rum, apressed trap-door in said third horizontal cylinder, and an outlet, saidtwo husking drums being adapted to suck in air from without through theperforations in the cylinder heads and to discharge the husks.

3. In a husking machine, the combination with a horizontal cylinder fora first husking drum, of a trap-door in said horizontal cyl inder, ahorizontal trough placed with its one end beneath said trap-door, ascrew conveyor mounted in said horizontal trough to turn, an outlet atthe other end of said horizontal trough, a water cock near said trap?door, a connection between said water cock and a source of water, meansfor pivotally connecting said trap-door with the plug of said watercock, and means for normally closing said trap-door with a yieldingpressure.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this specification in thepresence of two su bscrihing witnesses.

S'llCliA N S'IEl NM ET. lVitnesses:

VAL'rnn HAUsING, lVAL'rnn SoiiUMANN.

